Roundup: for the week ending 14 February 2016

A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 8 February to Sunday 14 February 2016.

Monday, 8 February 2016

Antigua and Barbuda sets up spectrum management system

Antigua and Barbuda – The Antigua and Barbuda Telecommunications Division (ABTD) has announced the implementation of an integrated telecommunications management system (iTMS) to oversee the licensed use of spectrum across the country, reports website Caribbean News Now… more

Expert says consumers will ultimately pay Telecoms tax

Antigua and Barbuda – Any new taxes on telecoms companies, which the new Telecommunications Bill would impose, will force an increase in the rates for services offered to the consumer… more

Media workers say telecoms minister should apologise

Antigua and Barbuda – Former President of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers and Executive Director of Winn FM in St Kitts, Clive Bacchus said Telecommunications Minister, Melford Nicholas should apologise to OBSERVER media for purporting false accusations… more

‘Privacy Invasion’ Fear On Nhi Bill

Bahamas – The draft National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has been slammed for providing the Government with “sweeping invasion of privacy powers” that threaten the confidentiality of doctors’ patient records… more

Technology on the pool deck

Cayman Islands – Swimmers at Stingray Swim Club are benefitting from an investment in their swimming development made by Cayman Islands Boat Rentals, who donated all filming equipment needed to support training – including a mobile video cart, TV, underwater camera and DVR… more

Flow Launches TNT Series

Jamaica – The network known as a source of the ‘Binge Watching Phenomenon’, to launch Friday… more

Fond St. Jacques added to ICT access program

Saint Lucia – The Government is committed to ensuring that all Saint Lucians benefit from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector… more

LIME offering reward for information on equipment thieves

Saint Lucia – LIME is offering a reward to anyone with information about the thefts of equipment from the company’s cell sites… more

Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Digicel Play subscribers top 10,000 mark

Jamaica – TELECOMS company Digicel says subscribers to its home entertainment service, Digicel Play, has surpassed the 10,000 mark mere months into its launch… more

Digicel Play surprises its 10,000th customer

Jamaica – Digicel Play surprised its 10,000th customer, Lucet Montgomery, at home with free service for 90 days, a 55-inch LED LG smart TV and two Samsung Galaxy tablets, among other goodies… more

Flow says it tops competitor in islandwide mobile benchmarking tests

Jamaica – Flow Jamaica says it has outranked the competition in three out of four mobile benchmark tests and has earned a comparative rating on the fourth… more

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Minister says consumers won’t be affected by telecoms tax

Antigua and Barbuda – Telecommunications Minister Melford Nicholas said a 3 per cent tax on telecommunication providers should not affect consumers, since it does not increase the spending of service providers… more

Fight Sports Launches on Digicel Play

Regional – uesday 9th February 2016. Digicel Play is taking the fight to the cable TV market with the news that the 24/7 linear channel FIGHT SPORTS will be joining the Digicel Play family on an exclusive basis… more

Thursday, 11 February 2016

WhatsApp Use Remains Free on BTC network

Bahamas – Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) today refuted claims circulating on social media that BTC charged for the use of WhatsApp, stating that its use remains free on the BTC network… more

Data Protection Chief Seeks Nhi Bill Change

Bahamas – The Data Protection Commissioner yesterday confirmed her office is seeking amendments to the Government’s draft National Health Insurance Bill, effectively backing doctors’ concerns that some clauses threaten the confidentiality of doctors’ patient records… more

Digicel turns 12

Barbados – THE LINES AT Digicel’s store in Colonnade Mall (formerly Da Costa’s Mall) Bridgetown stretched from the counter to the door as more than 500 people flocked to the store capitalise on the deals on offer… more

Licenseless Plus TV responds to Broadcasting Authority

Belize – The resource stressed Plus Television is having more difficulty staying on air after its owner, Louis Wade, applied for the wrong broadcasting license, according to the Belize Broadcasting Authority… more

BUSINESS BYTE: C&W Business Launches its Cloud Solutions Suite in Dominica

Dominica – C&W Business, the business-to-business unit of Cable & Wireless Communications, officially unveiled a suite of its cloud-based technological solutions in Dominica last week… more

Dominican telecom operators to invest over DOP 18 billion

Dominican Republic – The three major telecom operators in the Dominican Republic have announced investments of more than DOP 18.2 billion and new companies are expected to enter the sector as well, the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) reported… more

Pilot phase of implementation of the UXP platform

Haiti – A working meeting was held at the Office of Management and Human Resources (OMRH) with the IT managers of state institutions that are part of the pilot phase of the implementation of the government’s electronic platform UXP (Unified Exchange Platform)… more

BUSINESS BYTE: Digicel Play subscribers to get free preview of HBO Max Pack

Regional – HBO Max Pack will be available to all Digicel Play subscribers during a FREE Preview Weekend from Friday, February 12th at 7pm until Monday, February 15th at 7am… more

Cable & Wireless Communications PLC Third Quarter Trading Update

Regional – This announcement provides an update on the Third Quarter performance, ending 31 December 2015, and the financial position of the Group in the first nine months of the fiscal year FY2015/16… more

LIME Customers Can Now Live Debt Free!

Saint Lucia – LIME is welcoming customers back to its landline, internet, mobile and LIME TV network… more

Trinidad & Tobago to Host 2016 Caribbean Broadband Forum

Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad and Tobago will host the 2016 Caribbean Broadband Forum, scheduled to take place on 14 – 16 July 2016 in the seaside capital city Port of Spain… more

Friday, 12 February 2016

BTC: ‘Business as usual’ regarding WhatsApp

Bahamas – Questions abound among Bahamians given the news that WhatsApp has dropped its subscription fees and that Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) parent company has entered into a partnership with the social media powerhouse… more

BTC’s 9% Mobile Fall Undermines Its Owner

Bahamas – The 9 per cent contraction in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) mobile revenues for the three months to end-December 2015 helped undermine its owner’s top-line growth, it was revealed yesterday… more

BTC Plan To ‘Attack’ Cable’s Home Ground

Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) plans to “attack” Cable Bahamas on its home turf in response to losing its mobile monopoly, with its ‘fibre-to-the-home’ infrastructure set to pass 20,000 New Providence homes by end-March… more

URCA publishes 2016 fee schedule

Bahamas – The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has published a schedule for fees related to the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016… more

More ‘switch’ to Digicel

Barbados – SOME customers appear to have switched to the Digicel network at the start of the year when the cellphone tax was introduced… more

Gov’t to spend $100M on G’town-Linden fibre optic cable link –Hughes

Guyana – Government plans to resuscitate the botched fibre optic cable project that was started under the former administration and Telecoms Minister Cathy Hughes says $100M will be spent to upgrade the link between Georgetown and Linden… more

GT&T’s customers have nothing to celebrate

Guyana – Dear Editor, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) celebrated 25 years as a company in Guyana, but the fact remains that customers have nothing to celebrate… more

Digicel talks Internet safety with Kingston High students

Jamaica – TELECOMMUNICATIONS and entertainment provider Digicel joined millions of people across the world Tuesday to celebrate Safer Internet Day, which sought to promote the safe and responsible use of technology, especially among young people… more

New BPO Companies Coming

Jamaica – The call centre market continues to expand with three business process outsourcing (BPO) companies about to set up shop in Jamaica… more

Profit Drought Breaks At C&W Jamaica

Jamaica – Cable & Wireless Jamaica, which trades as FLOW, made its first quarterly net profit in years, which came with double-digit, mobile subscriber growth… more

CWC’s quarterly sales up 1% to USD595m

Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has issued a brief trading update for the third quarter of FY2015/16, reporting consolidated revenue of USD595 million for the three months ended 31 December 2015, up 1% year-on-year… more

BTP: Mobile interference issues have been resolved

Sint Maarten – Bureau Telecommunication and Post St. Maarten (BTP) has credited its “diligent” efforts working with the Regulatory Authority of St. Kitts NTCR for the resolution of interference issues in St. Maarten… more

Regulator participates in Regional Telecom Workshops

Sint Maarten – Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten (BTP) represented by Ryan Wijngaarde, participated in regional workshops during the CANTO 32nd AGM & Mini Exhibition that took place in Haiti in the first week of February… more

Saturday, 13 February 2016

Bahamas telecoms company reaches exclusive agreement with WhatsApp

Bahamas – Questions abound among Bahamians given the news that WhatsApp has dropped its subscription fees and that Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) parent company has entered into a partnership with the social media powerhouse… more

Guyana Guardian victim of identity theft

Guyana – Police in Guyana are said to be seeking the whereabouts of a local journalist against whom an allegation of commercial fraud was made… more

JUTC Riding High On Wifi

Jamaica – Come September, passengers travelling on the 452 buses operated by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will be able to access free Internet service on their smartphones and other devices… more

Judge cautions against raunchy social media postings

Jamaica – SENIOR Magistrate Judith Pusey is cautioning against the posting of degrading pictures and videos on social media… more

ECTEL Meets Consumer Advocates

Regional – A two-day workshop for consumer advocates in ECTEL Member States will be convened in Saint Lucia Next Wednesday and Thursday… more

T&T regulator committed to universal broadband access

Trinidad and Tobago – The top local telecommunications regulator has underscored the country’s commitment to deepening the penetration of broadband access in T&T, even though the country remains without a 4G/LTE operator nearly two years after the Telecommunications Authority (TATT) recommended that two licences should be awarded… more

Sunday, 14 February 2016

BTC signals continued commitment to diversity in leadership with new COO

Bahamas – Bahamas Telecommunications Company, (BTC) is no stranger to advocating for gender equality in the Information and Communication and Technology (ICT) sec-tor. In 2014, the telecoms provider was amongst the first companies to sign-on to the Caribbean Women in ICT (CWIC) programme, a Caribbean-wide initiative aimed at addressing the issues facing women in the industry at all levels… more

Digicel given the green light to sue over cloned Sim cards

Haiti – DIGICEL, the Caribbean mobile phone company owned by billionaire Denis O’Brien, has been given the go-ahead by a US court to sue an American company for an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud… more

Stop. Think. Connect

Jamaica – THE Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining will launch its cybersecurity awareness campaign dubbed ‘Stop. Think. Connect.’ this month… more